U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) has been a member of Congress for nearly a decade, and it is difficult to determine what exactly he has accomplished.
Fitzpatrick, 52, claims to be a problem solver, but he is really part of the problem. Fitzpatrick entered Congress with the MAGA wave that first swept into Washington with Donald Trump in November 2016.
He is a member of a Republican House majority that has been one of the least effective and most dysfunctional in modern times. The GOP controls the House, Senate, and the White House — and still can’t do much to help the American people.
Because Fitzpatrick represents a swing district that covers Bucks County and portions of Montgomery County, he doesn’t always vote lockstep with his Republican colleagues. But when Fitzpatrick’s vote is needed, he backs Trump’s incoherent agenda, which has made life more expensive for everyone.
That agenda speaks for itself: costly tariffs, cruel deportations, unprovoked war, tax breaks for the superrich, massive debt, healthcare cuts, brazen corruption, abuses of power, self-enrichment schemes, and constant chaos.
For Fitzpatrick’s constituents, Republican control in Washington has resulted in higher interest rates, sluggish job growth, and increased prices on everything from gasoline to food, cars, housing, and utility bills. Not to mention a host of constitutional, ethical, and legal abuses with no oversight or pushback.
U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) doesn’t always vote with his Republican colleagues. But when his vote is needed, he backs Donald Trump’s incoherent agenda, the Editorial Board writes.Haiyun Jiang
He did vote against Trump’s signature legislative accomplishment: the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, which added trillions to the ballooning deficit, extended tax cuts for the wealthy, slashed Medicaid and other support for the most vulnerable citizens, and added billions to support Trump’s deportation roundups.
But Fitzpatrick’s no vote came only after final passage of the measure was assured. Weeks before the measure’s final passage, he was the deciding vote to advance the bill that ultimately became law.
He often performs this type of calculated two-step to appear not so extreme to his more moderate constituents. But the results spell pure MAGA.
Fitzpatrick, who recently married a Fox News correspondent, pulled a similar switcheroo on Trump’s costly war in Iran. Initially, he voted against limiting Trump’s power to wage war in Iran before voting to block further military action. He even issued a muddled statement about the war that said nothing.
So he was for the war before he was against it. The result of Trump’s strategic blunder that GOP congressional members enabled has been higher gas prices, billions wasted on bombs, and needless death and destruction with no way out.
Fitzpatrick has harmed his constituents in other ways. He repeatedly supported Trump’s tariffs, which have upended trade relations with allies, roiled financial markets, and increased prices for small businesses and consumers.
He is increasingly out of step with his own constituents. He supports data center development, which most voters oppose. He also opposes codifying abortion rights, which a majority of the public supports.
Fitzpatrick has also been largely missing in action in his own district. He has not held a town-hall meeting with voters since 2017, calling them a waste of time.
He has refused to debate his opponent, Bob Harvie, a Bucks County commissioner. Fitzpatrick declined to meet with this Editorial Board to make his case for reelection — even though The Inquirer endorsed him in the past.
If 80% of success is just showing up, Fitzpatrick has failed his constituents.
The problem may rest with who Fitzpatrick really represents. His campaign is largely funded by billionaires and out-of-state corporate PACs backed by Wall Street banks, Big Pharma, and Koch Industries.
More broadly, the GOP-controlled Congress has failed to uphold its sworn oath to support the Constitution and serve as a check on the executive branch of government.
Fitzpatrick’s true character is shining through in the onslaught of attack ads aimed at his opponent. An ally with a checkered past was recently exposed for planting negative articles about Harvie. That’s a Tammany Hall move.
Fortunately, voters in Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District have a more upstanding alternative in Commissioner Harvie.
Harvie, 54, is a Bucks County native who grew up in a blue-collar family (Bristol Borough) and was the first member in his family to go to college. He taught social studies in the public schools there for many years. He is humble, hardworking, and understands the affordability challenges facing Pennsylvanians.
Democratic Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie understands the affordability challenges facing Pennsylvanians, the Editorial Board writes.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
He would bring some much-needed compassion and decency to a Congress that is turning into TikTok performance artists more interested in viral posts than making government work for the people they represent. Even better, Harvie will answer to the people, not Trump.
Unlike Fitzpatrick, who has not held an in-person town hall in nearly a decade, Harvie has held five town halls since April and has four more scheduled this month.
Harvie was elected commissioner twice. He knows how to work with Republicans and Democrats. The three-member commission includes one Republican, yet more than 90% of the votes have been unanimous.
The commissioners have opened mental health care facilities, launched sustainability programs, and passed a bipartisan resolution opposing the use of warehouses as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities.
If elected, Harvie said his top priority would be to address affordability issues facing residents. He also wants to restore trust in government, starting with a ban on stock trading by members of Congress and a clampdown on corporate control of politics by passing a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.
“I was raised to love this country,” Harvie told the Editorial Board. “I cannot stand what’s happening to it.”
Many Americans agree. That’s why The Inquirer endorses Bob Harvie for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 1st District.
Exactly one month to the day ahead of the highly consequential midterm elections, Gov. Josh Shapiro stood in front of the Middletown Township Municipal Center and said something pretty much everyone in Bucks County is well aware of:
“Bucks County, you’ve got a lot of power,” he told the large crowd that gathered on the lawn and under trees with fall-tinged leaves.
Shapiro kicked off a day of action for Democrats organized by Planned Parenthood’s state-level political action committee Saturday afternoon in Bucks County. The purple county will be the center of crucial races for state Senate and U.S. Congress,and could determine the balance of power.
Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks to the crowd gathered at the Middletown Township Municipal Center in Bucks County on Saturday.Fallon Roth
Shapiro, who is also running for reelection, promoted the Democrats at the forefront of those races Saturday, including 1st U.S. Congressional District candidate Bob Harvie and Eileen Hartnett Albillar, who is running in the 6th state Senate district. He framed their election as a chance to put a check on President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., and an opportunity to flip the state Senate and obtain the first Democratic trifecta in Harrisburg in decades.
Bryan Allen, Kristin Egan, and Monica Weninger are also running in Bucks County to expand Democrats’ majority in the state House.
Shapiro called the 1st Congressional District race — between Harvie and U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Bucks) — “the most competitive in the entire commonwealth.”
Three other U.S. House seats in Pennsylvania are also being targeted by both parties: the 7th, 8th, and 10th Districts. Shapiro has also described the 9th as competitive.
Harvie, in his speech, highlighted the affordability crisis and an “economy that is broken.” He also argued that the U.S. has “lost our stature around the world.”
Democrat Bob Harvie (center), challenging GOP U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in the 1st Congressional District, speaks to the crowd at the Middletown Township Municipal Center in Bucks County on Saturday.Fallon Roth
“We’re going to put this country back in the path it was meant to be on. A country we can be proud of. A country we can be proud to hand our children and grandchildren, and a country that is strong around the world, strong at home, and we’re going to do that here in this county,” Harvie said.
With Planned Parenthood PA PAC organizing Saturday’s day of campaigning, the slew of Democratic officials and candidates in attendance also highlighted reproductive rights in their rallying calls.
Hartnett Albillar said in her speech that such rights go in tandem with cost-of-living issues, like making a livable wage and accessing childcare and paid family leave.
“People are scared about the unsustainable economic path that we are on, and reproductive healthcare is part of that affordability conversation,” she said. “Reproductive healthcare is something we need to ensure we have in order for economic futures for families.”
She pledged that with a Democratic state Senate, abortion rights would be codified.
“The folks that live here are going to determine whether or not we are going to be able to get that trifecta,” she said.
Democrat Eileen Hartnett Albillar (center) speaks to a crowd gathered at the Middletown Township Municipal Center on Saturday.Fallon Roth
Shapiro’s appearance in Bucks County on Saturday afternoon came after his morning campaign stop in Philadelphia’s Ninth Wardand reflects how the popular governor has spent most of his reelection campaign trying to boost other Democrats across the state.
For instance, in July, he launched “Rise Up Pennsylvania” — an effort that is aimed at pooling donations to fund campaign resources for key state Senate and U.S. congressional races.
Before the door knocking and canvassing around town ensued, Shapiro framed November as an inflection point for Bucks County residents and pondered future conversations between crowd members and their kids or grandkids.
“You’re going to be able to look at them and tell them, ‘in the swingiest town, in the swingiest state, in the entire country, you dedicated yourself to meeting your neighbors … telling them what’s at stake.’”
Democrat Bob Harvie thumbed through hundreds of pages bound together in a booklabeled “The Partially Redacted Epstein Files” and said he was disgusted with what he read —or at least what he was able to read.
Entire blocks of text regarding the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019, were marked black.
But survivors of Epstein’s predatory behavior, including Sharlene Rochard, who appeared with Harvie Friday in Bristol, are heroes for illuminating what has been blocked from the public, the congressional candidate said.
Harvie pledged to push “very, very hard” to release the full, unredacted files related to Epstein’s crimes if elected.
The Bucks County commissioner is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick to represent the 1st Congressional District, one of two swing districts in the state that Rochard visited Friday to campaign for Democrats. She’ll be hitting another the following day.
“These are files, but I’m in these files, and that is my life in these files,” Rochard told Harvie. “And I need justice. We need accountability, and we need some transparency, and we need people likeyou.”
Rows of files were contained inside a traveling bookmobile parked in front of the Bristol waterfront. Plastered on the outside of the truck was a decades-old image of President Donald Trump with his arm around Epstein.
Reminding voters of Trump’s history with Epstein has been a campaign tactic used by Democrats in competitive contests across the country, but Harvie said the issue of justice for survivors should go beyond partisan politics.
“I don’t care what party they’re from,” Harvie said. “I don’t care what office they hold or held. I don’t care how much money they have. I don’t care. We need to do everything we can to protect the victims and honor them and shine a light on this part of our society.”
Sharlene Rochard, a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual trafficking and abuse, and Bob Harvie during a news conference at the Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Bookmobile in Bristol.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Earlier in the day, Rochard visited Harrisburg, where she was welcomed by Democrat Janelle Stelson, a former news anchor who promised to “take on the culture of corruption across the government” if elected over incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry in the 10th District.
Rochard was slated to appear Saturday in Bethlehem with Democrat Bob Brooks, who is running against U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in the 7th District, one of the most competitive contests in the nation.
The truck arrived in Pennsylvania one month before Election Day as Trump continues to plummet in popularity among likely voters in the state. It’s an officially nonpartisan project of Institute for Primary Facts, a nonprofit that builds public art installations, and DEFIANCE.org, a group dedicated to ending sexual exploitation of children and adults.
Rochard, who was born in Canada, began traveling to the U.S. as a teen to model when she met Epstein and was with him in New York, Florida, and on his private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, she said. Though she’s unable to go into details about her trafficking experience because she is involved in ongoing legal action, she now works alongside fellow survivors to advocate for the files to be exposed.
Every Pennsylvania lawmaker voted to release the Epstein files last year, including Fitzpatrick and the other vulnerable Republican incumbents whose districts Rochard was touring this week.
In a statement last year, Fitzpatrick said he is “unequivocally behind the victims and their family members who suffered immensely” from Epstein’s crimes.
“He 100% stands with the victims, and will support disclosure and transparency every single time,” Heather Roberts, a spokesperson for Fitzpatrick’s campaign, said Friday.
A couple dozen people trickled through the bookmobile during its Bristol stop, though multiple people interviewed entered with familiarity about the files and were already convinced of a strong connection between Trump and Epstein.
“I’m dumbfounded that there are people who don’t believe the victims,” said Deb Crasnick, 69, of Langhorne.
Sharlene Rochard, a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual trafficking and abuse, and Bob Harvie at the Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Bookmobile in Bristol on Friday. Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Crasnick found out about the event from her friend Diane Grant, 71, of Bensalem, who has been following the tour on social media. But Grant, who called the revelations disturbing, worried the tour’s effectiveness may have limits.
“People have their mindset. Nothing said or shown in there will change it,” she said.
“The economy keeps me up at night,” said Tracey Marshall, 57, who lives in Falls Township. “We need a change.”
Rochard said the purpose of the tour goes beyond Election Day.
Trump has called the Epstein case “a hoax” and said that the files that have been publicly shared are “enough,” a notion the survivor is hoping to dispel with the tour.
“This is something that has happened to me,” Rochard said. “I’m not a Democratic hoax. I am a real person, and we need some justice.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro will be in Bucks County on Saturday to campaign for Democrats up and down the ballot in the key swing county.
Shapiro, who kicked off Democrats’ general election campaigns at a space centrifuge in Warminster this past spring, is returning to Bucks, emphasizing the important role that the perennially purple county will play in November’s midterms with competitive contests for Congress and state Senate on the ballot.
The governor will appear at a canvass launch in Langhorne organized by Planned Parenthood PA PAC, the organization’s state-level political action committee. The PAC has endorsed Bucks County Democrat Eileen Hartnett Albillar, who is running for state Senate in the 6th District, a crucial seat for the party, and state House candidates Bryan Allen, Kristin Egan, and Monica Weninger.
Shapiro will also appear alongside Democratic County Commissioner Bob Harvie, who is challenging GOP U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in the Bucks-based 1st Congressional District — one of four seats in the state being targeted by both parties. Harvie is endorsed byShapiro and Planned Parenthood’s federal PAC.
Democratic U.S. Reps. Madeleine Dean, of Montgomery County, and Mary Gay Scanlon, of Delaware County, will also be in attendance.
Democrats are hoping to win control of the state Senate — which they haven’t had for 33 years. The GOP currently holds 27 seats in the 50-member state Senate.
To take control of the chamber with the lieutenant governor’s tie-breaking vote, Democrats would need to flip at least two seats and maintain control of the governor’s office. With a trifecta in Harrisburg, Democrats hope to advance legislation on issues that haven’t gained support in the Republican-controlled Senate, like codifying abortion protections.
The Shapiro-endorsed candidates have an opportunity, if successful in November, to give Democrats more governing power, whether that’s winning party control in the U.S. House, the state Senate, or giving Democrats an expanded majority in the state’s lower chamber.
Shapiro is running for a second term as governor, but he’s spending much of his time using his political prowess to bolster other Democrats ahead of the midterms. Recently, he was in Philadelphia with Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to energize volunteers. Earlier this month, he was in Montgomery and Chester Counties campaigning for down-ballot candidates.
Shapiro has invested more than $5.7 million in the state party since fall 2025, his campaign said last month.
Gov. Josh Shapiro poses with Democratic Pa. Senate candidate Chris Thomas (left) and his supporters after a rally in Towamencin, Montgomery County before heading out to canvass Sunday, Sept. 29, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
In July, he launched an effort — “Rise Up Pennsylvania” — that is aimed at pooling donations to fund campaign resources for key state Senate and U.S. congressional races.
Abortion protections remain a key piece of the party’s platform, even as Democrats have refocused their messaging on affordability ahead of November.
“Bucks County will be critical to building a pro–sexual and reproductive health care trifecta in Pennsylvania,” Signe Espinoza, executive director of Planned Parenthood PA PAC, said in a statement Friday.
“We endorsed these candidates because we know they will stand up to fight to protect every Pennsylvanian’s freedom to make their own decisions about their body, health and future.”
It wouldn’t be a Pennsylvania election without Bucks County becoming the star of the show.
And that’s exactly what’s happening this weekend, when Gov. Josh Shapiro travels to the swingiest of the swing counties to stump for Democrats up and down the ballot in key races.
🎤 I’m Fallon Roth, the suburban politics reporter at The Inquirer, coming to you live from Bucks (my home county) as we dig into how the suburb will be the make-or-break place for Democrats’ wishlist next month, including a win for Bob Harvie in the 1st Congressional District and shift in party control in the state Senate, which could only happen with help from the Philly suburbs.
We’ll also explore whether Pennsylvania voters would support Shapiroturning his attention to a bid for the White House in 2028.
In this edition:
🗳️All hands on deck: Shapiro will be in Bucks County Saturdayto launch a day-of-action for Democrats, organized by Planned Parenthood’s state-level PAC.
🗳️ The Bucks stops here: Two Bucks County swing districts and another in Montco could determine which party controls the state Senate.
🗳️Homefield (dis)advantage?: Pennsylvania voters are split on whether Shapiro should run for president in 2028.
-Fallon Roth, Michelle Baruchman, Sam Janesch, Gillian McGoldrick (pa2026@inquirer.com)
The latest
The price of gas, groceries and, well, living is on the rise and Pennsylvania’s swing district voters will have affordability on their minds as they head to the ballot box next month.
As democratic socialist candidates become more mainstream — including in Philly — most Pennsylvania Democrats said in a recent Inquirer/New York Times/Siena University poll that they have a positive view of socialism.
Shapiro and Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (possible 2028 rivals) went to Sam’s Morning Glory Diner in Philly to energize voters ahead of the midterms.
📊 Without a doubt, Shapiro is a popular governor. He’s viewed favorably by Democrats, independents and even some Republicans — no small feat in a swing state that voted for President DonaldTrumpin 2024. But whether these likely Pennsylvania voters want Shapiro to run for president in 2028 is an entirely different question.
Voters, in a poll conducted by Siena University on behalf of The Inquirer and the New York Times, were split on whether Shapiro, who is expected to pursue a White House bid, should run: 43% of respondents want him to run, and 44% don’t.
Of those supporting a potential presidential campaign, 41% ranked his character and competence as their reasons, and nearly one in five said they were satisfied with Shapiro’s performance as governor. But for those who oppose a run, it’s not necessarily because they don’t like him (although that is the case for 21% of respondents).
About one in 10 said they would prefer Shapiro, who is up for reelection this November with a commanding lead against his competitor, to remain in Pennsylvania. Campaigning and presidential debates would likely begin soon into his second term.
“I like his views. I like his policies. I like everything. I just think his religious affiliation will stop him from winning because I think the rest of the country, especially the middle of the country, will rally against him,”said Michael Biello, a 68-year-old Democrat in Philadelphia.
Campaign scrapple
🏥 Is the U.S. ready for Medicare for All?
Democrat Bob Harvie thinks there needs to be more trust in the federal government first before it starts running the healthcare system, he told The Inquirer on Tuesday evening.
Harvie, a Bucks County commissioner challenging GOP U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in the swingy 1st Congressional District, has focused his campaign on addressing rising costs and increasing access to healthcare, such as advocating for 55-year-olds to be able to buy into Medicare.
Congressional candidate Bob Harvie (D, Pa.) speaks on Friday, September 11, 2026 at the Garden of Reflection in Yardley, Pennsylvania.William Thomas Cain / For The Inquirer
“My worry is you start talking to people about well, ‘We’re going to take away the healthcare system you have, and we’re going to give you another one, and the government’s going to run it,’” Harvie said of Medicare for All. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to rebuild trust in the government, just like we have a lot of work to do to rebuild how this healthcare system works.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (second from the left) and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro chat with diners at the Morning Glory. The two Democrats have grown close in recent years, but they could become rivals in 2028 if they both pursue the presidency. Aidan T. Gallo / Staff Photographer
👀 What we’re watching
Shapiro and Garrity will face off in a live, televised debate this coming Wednesday, Oct. 7. The Harrisburg-based TV station ABC27 is hosting the debate, which will air on several stations owned by Nexstar across Pennsylvania, including WPHL-TV in Philadelphia. Politics reporters Gillian McGoldrick and Michelle Baruchman will break the major moments down at inquirer.com/politics.
Quote of the week
U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick weighs in on the No. 1 issue this election. William Thomas Cain / For The Inquirer
Fitzpatrick agrees with his opponent, Harvie, on one thing: this election will hinge on which party voters think will do a better job lowering the cost of living.
👋 Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to check back as we enter a final campaign month packed with debates, candidate events and maybe even a few October surprises. You can follow The Inquirer politics team’s coverage here, and we’ll see you in your inbox next Friday.
SCRANTON — Four of Mike Parry’s tenants can no longer afford to pay their rent. Suddenly, their financial pain is his.
“It’s the affordability of everything that’s the problem,” said Parry, 60, of Clarks Summit, Lackawanna County. “We’re all feeling it now.”
With the war in Iran rocketing gas to almost $5 a gallon, inflation surging to 3.4% from 2.6% in 2025, and food prices up nearly 3% over last year, the high cost of living is weighing on the minds of many voters — and candidates — as the midterm elections draw near.
Nowhere is that more critical than in four tightly contested Pennsylvania congressional districts that could decide the control of the U.S. House — in Bucks County, the Lehigh Valley, the Harrisburg area, and Northeast Pennsylvania.
Mike Parry of Clark Summit, Lackawanna County.Courtesy of Mike Parry
Parry, a Republican and supporter of President Donald Trump, said he is aware that many Americans hold the president and his party accountable for the affordability crisis, including in the 8th Congressional District, where Parry plans to back GOP U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan over Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, the Democratic nominee.
But other voters might not be so kind to Trump-aligned incumbents this fall.
Among likely voters in Pennsylvania, 75% disapprove of how Trump is handling the cost of living, compared with just 25% who approve, according to a recent poll fromThe Inquirer, the New York Times, and Siena University. And 73% disapprove of how he has handled gas prices, vs. 24% who approve. About 65% disapprove of his handling of the economy, vs. 34% who approve.
“It doesn’t matter what party you’re in,” Parry said. “We’re all getting hammered the same.”
‘Spend less’
At his local Wawa gas station in Allentown, P.J. Santos, 32, removed his finger from the pump trigger before his tank filled.
“So I buy less than I need,” he added, tightening his gas cap. “Same goes for date nights with my wife: Spend less.”
That is harder when you’re buying food, said Tammy McCoy, 52, of Easton,in the same district.“Walk into any grocery store,” said McCoy, a Democrat and professional cook. “It’s like you have to hand them $50 at the door.”
(function(){function e(){window.addEventListener(`message`,function(e){if(e.data[`datawrapper-height`]!==void 0){var t=document.querySelectorAll(`iframe`);for(var n in e.data[`datawrapper-height`])for(var r=0,i;i=t[r];r++)if(i.contentWindow===e.source){var a=e.data[`datawrapper-height`][n]+`px`;i.style.height=a}}})}e()})();
Trump, she remembered, promised to lower priceson Day 1 of his presidency. Not only did that not happen, she added, he raised tariffs, making imported staples like coffee, nuts, and olive oil more expensive. “Because of that,” McCoy added, “I’m against him and Republicans.”
Tapping into the frustration over food prices, Democrat Janelle Stelson’s campaign is pointing to the cost of hamburgers as she seeks to oust Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry in the 10th Congressional District.
Janelle Stelson (left) and Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa.(right) from a Stelson campaign photo in 2024, the last time the two squared off against each other in a bid to represent the 10th Congressional District. Stelson Campaign, AP
Stelson eats a burger in a TV ad that says Americans now pay $7.29 for a pound of ground beef —a result of tariffs Trump imposed and Perry supported.
But criticism of Trump’s tariffs will not sway Tammy Green, 60, a Republican voter in the 8th Congressional District who supports Bresnahan over Democrat Cognetti.
“Because he’s a businessman, President Trump understands the economy. … He’s negotiating fair prices with tariffs,” said Green, a former travel agent who lives in West Wyoming, Luzerne County.
More households need help
On a hot September day in Levittown, people gathered to celebrate the grand opening of the new headquarters of the United Way of Bucks County. Focused on helping anyone experiencing financial hardship, the building features an expanded HELP Center, where diapers, fresh produce, and clothing are available at no charge.
As need skyrockets, the nonprofit expects a 40% to 50% increase in demand this year, Marissa Christie, president and CEO, said in an interview.
“Folks are telling us that in the grocery store, their budget is not going as far as it used to,” Christie said. “When they go to fill up their gas tank, their money is not going as far as they expected.”
Attending the event alongside other local lawmakers was U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Bucks), who secured $4.15 million in federal funds for the building and said the agency will “always be in that top-10 list” of key nonprofits helping those in need.
U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Bucks) speaks outside the U.S. Capitol about legislation to put national restrictions on gerrymandering on Sep. 16, 2026.Sam Janesch / Staff
The cost of living has become a focal point in the 1st Congressional District race as Fitzpatrick fends off a challenge from Democratic County Commissioner Bob Harvie in the Bucks County-based swing district.
Pennsylvania Democrats, including Harvie, have centered their campaign messaging on affordability in hopes of appealing to voters across the political spectrum.
“Costs are what affect people every single day … whether it’s at the pump, whether it’s in the grocery store,” Harvie said in an interview with The Inquirer’s Editorial Board. “Housing costs obviously are huge. It’s a major issue here in this district, especially in the county.”
(The Editorial Board, which runs The Inquirer’s opinion pages and decides endorsements, operates independently from the newsroom. Newsroom editors and reporters have no role in endorsements, and opinion staffers have no role in news coverage.)
Fitzpatrick, too, acknowledged in an interview at the U.S. Capitol last month that affordability is the top issue not just in this election, but in every election.
“The No. 1priority, the No. 1 focus, has to be on affordability — has to be,” he said. “That’s the issue that got Trump elected in ’24. It’s what got [New York Mayor Zohran] Mamdani elected in ’25. It’s what people care about.”
‘Affordability front and center’
Demonstrating their awareness of voter focus on the high cost of living, Trump administration officials and local Republicans repeatedly emphasized “affordability” as they touted their work to combat rising electricity prices at a PPL Electric Utilities facility in Allentown last week.
“This is a quick way to lower electricity prices and increase reliability,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said as he announced up to $71.5 million in federal funding for PPL, which was among $2 billion in new spending aimed at improving the electric grid.
Upgrades to existing transmission lines will include new technology like sensors to detect weather conditions, improving efficiency and ultimately lowering electricity costs, according to the Energy Department.
Asked how quickly consumers might see those improvements, Wright did not specify a timeline but noted that new, large-scale energy users — like data centers — are negotiating with utilities about how much of the increased demand they will cover.
Mackenzie, a freshman lawmaker whose district includes the Lehigh Valley and Poconos, also emphasized a bill he supports that would set federal standards for data centers to pay for their electricity use, and another to promote transparency around retail electric costs.
President Donald Trump invites 7th District U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (right) to the stage to visit Mack Trucks in Macungie, outside Allentown in the Lehigh Valley, in June.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Mackenzie said energy policy needs tokeep“affordability front and center.”
The war’s economic consequences
Some Trump voters say they are willing to pay more for gas and other essentials as the president pursues his policy goals at home and in Iran.
“We incur a cost that stinks now to avoid another Sept. 11 later,” said T.J. Fitzgerald, 60, a Republican bail bondsman from Nanticoke, Luzerne County, in the 8th Congressional District. “Fighting Iran, a terrorist organization, is worth inflation at the pump.”
Ryan Kavulich, a 37-year-old project manager from Dunmore in nearby Lackawanna County, disagreed with that logic.
“The war’s a nightmare with what it’s costing for diesel,” said Kavulich, a Democrat who plans to back Cognetti in November.
(function(){function e(){window.addEventListener(`message`,function(e){if(e.data[`datawrapper-height`]!==void 0){var t=document.querySelectorAll(`iframe`);for(var n in e.data[`datawrapper-height`])for(var r=0,i;i=t[r];r++)if(i.contentWindow===e.source){var a=e.data[`datawrapper-height`][n]+`px`;i.style.height=a}}})}e()})();
People in the 8th District know that Bresnahan voted against ending the war with Iran in September, Kavulich said.
“And that makes voting for Paige [Cognetti] in November the easiest choice ever,” he said. “So many people around Scranton have a blue-collar, kitchen-table, commonsense vibe. They know going into Iran isn’t what you do. They know it’s time to be over Bresnahan and Trump.”
As the cost of fuel continues to climb, even some longtime Republicans in the district are expressing their doubts about the economic consequences of Trump’s war.
“I voted for Trump three times,” said Greg Kerrick, 58, a Republican voter from Scranton.
“But I don’t like him pushing up gas prices,” added Kerrick, who is unemployed. “And I feel for anyone paying over $4 a gallon.”
Bucks County Democrat Bob Harvie is asking TV stationsin the Philadelphia area to stop airing advertisements from U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, calling them misleading to viewers.
In letters sent Thursday, an attorney for theDemocrat’s campaign highlighted two attack ads from Fitzpatrick’s campaign related to Harvie’s time as a county commissioner.
He said the ads relied on dubious reporting from a source who has personal connections to Fitzpatrick, the incumbent Republican who has represented the 1st Congressional District for five terms. Harvie is challenging Fitzpatrick for the Bucks County-based seat, one of four in the state that both parties are targeting ahead of November.
In one of the ads, for example, Fitzpatrick’s campaign cited a headline from Patch.com, the hyperlocal news organization, that said “Bob Harvie was the lone vote to abolish local police funding on the Board of Commissioners.”
Harvie opposed a roughly $43,000 purchase of “civil unrest protective equipment” for the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office in a 2024 vote, attorney Timothy Ford said in the letter, but voted to approve every other law enforcement spending request, including about $31,000 for a sheriff’s deputy vehicle and about $44,000 for a police interceptor utility vehicle.
The legal action comes after revelations from Politico that the author of multiple Patch articles Fitzpatrick is using in his campaign ads is Dave Sommers, who received occasional payments from Fitzpatrick’s campaign over the years, though not in the most recent financial reporting cycle.
“Sommers’ claim that Mr. Harvie voted to ‘abolish local police funding’ is a deliberately false characterization of the official and public record of the Bucks County Commissioners’ Meeting,” Ford wrote.
Harvie’s campaign asked the TV stations to scrutinize any future advertisements that refer to Sommers’ work.
“These advertisements rely on reporting from a highly uncredible and biased source with a penchant for publishing out-of-context, false statements that mislead voters and damage Mr. Harvie’s reputation in the community,” Ford wrote.
Sommers had previously been charged with stealing an election sign for a previous Fitzpatrick primary challenger and attended the lawmaker’s June wedding, Politico reported.
Representatives for the Fitzpatrick campaign did not respond to The Inquirer.
Several public polls put Harvie and Fitzpatrick in a tight race, but the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan group that provides election analysis, indicates the seat will likely remain in Republican control.
This summer, Harvie’s campaign sent a cease-and-desist letter to Fitzpatrick and his campaign for what it said were defamatory allegations that falsely suggest Harvie was the subject of an FBI investigation. A PAC supporting Fitzpatrick that used similar language in its social media posts, news releases, and video content also received a cease-and-desist order and was slapped with a lawsuit.
The practice of sending these kinds of letters is common for campaigns, and some go ignored.
In another ad Harvie’s campaign complained about in the letter, Fitzpatrick referenced a Patch headline that said “Bob Harvie Voted to Give Himself a Significant Taxpayer-Funded Pay Raise.”
As chair of the Bucks County Board of Commissioners, Harvie approved an annual 1% increase in salaries beginning in 2024 for commissioners and several other local offices. State law requires commissioners to set salaries prior to a forthcoming election year for most county-level roles, including their own.
“There was nothing ‘significant’ or unusual about the pay raise that Mr. Harvie and his fellow Commissioners approved,” Ford wrote. He added that the raises were approved across party lines, including support from the Republican commissioner.
More than a year and a half into President Donald Trump’s second term, U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has voted against the White House and the GOP more than any other House Republican.
Yet, he has still voted with the president and his party nearly 70%and 77%of the time, respectively, during this congressional term, according to a new Inquirer analysis.
Fitzpatrick’s nuanced voting record has become a focal point of Democrats’ campaign against the five-term GOP incumbent from purple Bucks County this fall.
HisDemocratic challenger, Bob Harvie, argues that Fitzpatrick has been a “rubber stamp” for Trump’s policies and the GOP establishment when it matters most. Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick continues to tout his moderate, bipartisan brand that has proved successful in elections past.
Both of those assertions will be tested in front of voters this November as Fitzpatrick defends his swing district seat in a heated race in the 1st Congressional District, which includes all of Bucks County and a sliver of Montgomery County. Trump narrowly lost the district in 2024, despite winning Bucks County.
Fitzpatrick is voting with the president and his party less frequently during the current Congress, which began last year, than he did during the two years of Trump’s first term, when the GOP also held the majority, The Inquirer found in a comprehensive analysis of the Bucks County lawmaker’s 5,064 roll-call votes since he joined Congress nearly a decade ago.
(function () {window.addEventListener(‘message’, function (e) { var message = e.data; var els = document.querySelectorAll(‘iframe[src*=”‘ + message.id + ‘”]’); els.forEach(function(el) { el.style.height = message.height + ‘px’; }); }, false); })();
The data underscore how Fitzpatrick, the last remaining GOP U.S. representative in the Philadelphia suburbs, is able to simultaneously straddle party lines and talk about his disdain for the two-party system while also serving as a key vote in the Republican conference— a cocktail of qualities that has made him difficult to unseat in years past.
This year, Democrats are hoping that a focus on affordability issues amid a national environment that has become increasingly unfavorable to Republicans will be what it takes to unseat Fitzpatrick.
U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) makes remarks in support the grand opening of the new headquarters and expanded financial stability center for United Way Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026 at United Way of Bucks County Headquarters in Levittown.William Thomas Cain / For The Inquirer
When Fitzpatrick does — and doesn’t — back Trump
Trump and the Bucks County Republican have had their fair share of tense moments, including the president threatening the lawmaker in May for voting against him.
Fitzpatrick has continued tovote against the president recently, including on a war powers resolution torestrict Trump’s military actions in Iran.
“[Fitzpatrick’s] bosses are his constituents back home,” Heather Roberts, a spokesperson for the Fitzpatrick campaign, said in a statement. “Political party retaliation has zero impact on his decision-making.”
Since January 2025, Fitzpatrick has voted with the Trump administration’s 133 stated positions on congressional votes 93 times, according to the analysis.
(function () {window.addEventListener(‘message’, function (e) { var message = e.data; var els = document.querySelectorAll(‘iframe[src*=”‘ + message.id + ‘”]’); els.forEach(function(el) { el.style.height = message.height + ‘px’; }); }, false); })();
Fitzpatrick voted with Trump on several high-profile GOP bills, including the SAVE Act, a controversial overhaul of voting laws, and the Laken Riley Act, legislation also supported by some Democrats that requires federal authorities to detain undocumented immigrants arrested for theft-related crimes, issues that Roberts maintained 1st District voters of both parties support.
Fitzpatrick’s votes have also aligned with the White House on other legislation related to immigration, law enforcement, energy, and renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”
At the same time, no other House Republican has been less loyal to the president in this time frame. That includes every GOP member from Pennsylvania, many of whom are staunch supporters of Trump. Republicans like U.S. Reps. Ryan Mackenzie, Rob Bresnahan, and Scott Perry, who are defending their seats in contentious swing-district races, vote with Trump more than 90% of the time.
Both Mackenzie and Bresnahan spoke at Trump’s Republican midterm convention in Dallas this month, but Fitzpatrick — the only GOP member of Congress from Pennsylvania not endorsed by Trump — did not attend.
(function(){function e(){window.addEventListener(`message`,function(e){if(e.data[`datawrapper-height`]!==void 0){var t=document.querySelectorAll(`iframe`);for(var n in e.data[`datawrapper-height`])for(var r=0,i;i=t[r];r++)if(i.contentWindow===e.source){var a=e.data[`datawrapper-height`][n]+`px`;i.style.height=a}}})}e()})();
The final bill had enough GOP support — 218 members voted yes — to pass without Fitzpatrick’s vote.
Harvie, Fitzpatrick’s Democratic challenger, contended that Fitzpatrick “has mastered the art of the meaningless gesture and breaks with Trump only when he gives him a hall pass.”
“[Voters] want somebody who’s going to go there and fight for them,” Harvie said. “And, you know, people’s lives aren’t better than they were 10 years ago. And Brian Fitzpatrick and Donald Trump are the big reasons why.”
Roberts said Harvie’s criticism is “absurd” and has been “debunked many times over and in every single election cycle.” She also criticized Harvie’s voting record and said he has not exercised similar levels of independence during his time as Bucks County commissioner and Falls Township supervisor.
Back in Trump’s first term in office, Fitzpatrick sided with the White House on 59% of votes — 81% of the time in 2017-18, but dropping to almost 42% in the following two years, after Democrats gained control of the U.S. House in the 2018 midterms.
Fitzpatrick voted with his party roughly 60% of the time during both the 117th and 118th Congresses, when Biden was in office and the GOP had the majority for the latter two years of his term.
The lawmaker played a key role in getting Biden’s signature bipartisan infrastructure law passed, drawing sharp attacks from fellow Republicans when he was one of 13 GOP members to support it in the House.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) speaks to reporters after the House passed an Iran war powers resolution on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. Haiyun Jiang
What about the GOP?
Fitzpatrick’s alignment with the House Republican Conference has fluctuated depending on which party is in power.
During this Congress, when the GOP holds a narrowmajority in the U.S. House, Fitzpatrick has voted with his party 77% of the time, meaning he has split from Republicans 107 times on 472 party unity votes, defined by CQ Roll Call as instances when a majority of voting Republicans oppose a majority of voting Democrats.
That figure is the highest of his career, the analysis shows, though still far below the median of Republicans. It was a similar story during Fitzpatrick’s first term during the 115th Congress in 2017-18, when Trump was in office and Republicans had the House.
By contrast, Fitzpatrick was the least loyal to his party during the 116th Congress in 2019-20 — at 55% — when Trump was still in office, but the GOP did not have the gavel.
A congressional lawmaker’s votes are dependent on which bills make it to the floor. Currently, that is up to House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, whom Fitzpatrick has criticized for his reluctance to bring some bipartisan bills for a vote if Trump opposes them.
Fitzpatrick has introduced 249 bills as lead sponsor, and just under half — 123 — have a bipartisan group of cosponsors.
“The numbers and percentages will change from year to year based entirely on what votes are put on the House Floor,” Roberts said in her statement. “The best measure of independence is how often, and on which issues, does one vote against their own political party, regardless of who the President is and regardless of who the Speaker is.”
(function(){function e(){window.addEventListener(`message`,function(e){if(e.data[`datawrapper-height`]!==void 0){var t=document.querySelectorAll(`iframe`);for(var n in e.data[`datawrapper-height`])for(var r=0,i;i=t[r];r++)if(i.contentWindow===e.source){var a=e.data[`datawrapper-height`][n]+`px`;i.style.height=a}}})}e()})();
Jim Worthington, a major GOP donor in Bucks and owner of the Newtown Athletic Club, said Fitzpatrick’s record is representative of the purple county, home to a plethora of split-ticket voters, and shows that he is able to go against power structures in Washington.
“When you have someone who’s willing to stand up to the power of the majority and take a stand, that’s the type of guy you want,” Worthington said. “It’s pretty lonely when there’s 216 other people in your party voting for something, and you’re voting no. It takes guts, and that’s what he’s doing.”
Over the course of his time in Congress, Fitzpatrick has defected from his fellow House Republicans on votes related to economic and public finance issues, but has agreed with his caucus most on legislation connected to international affairs.
Of the 10 closest votes in which Fitzpatrick diverged from the GOP this year, three were decisive votes that blocked GOP amendments to bills.
Two others were votes in which he supported Democratic motions that fell just short of passing.
Fitzpatrick also joined Democrats in voting against fiveGOP amendments to bills thatpassed by one vote.
US Rep Brian Fitzpatrick speaks during the Garden of Reflection remembrance ceremonies Friday, Sept. 11, 2026 at Garden of Reflection in Yardley, Pennsylvania. The Garden of Reflection is Pennsylvania’s official state memorial honoring all 2,973 victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks, with a special tribute to 18 local residents from Bucks County, Pennsylvania.William Thomas Cain / For The Inquirer
What does this mean for the midterms?
At the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Fitzpatrick stood alongside members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus that he cochairs, condemning the redistricting wars both parties have engaged in and unveiling legislation to prevent a similar situation in the future.
He said in an interview that both Trump and Democrats were “wrong” to kick-start a gerrymandering spree.
“There are so many forces pulling us away from the center, when most Americans are in the center,” he said.
Fitzpatrick has been working to run on that centrist message back at home — even as he wages an aggressive ad campaign against Harvie.
But will his brand and well-fundraised campaign help him in a disadvantageous national political environment for Republicans this year?
Brittany Crampsie, a Democratic consultant in Pennsylvania, said 1st District voters should consider whether they, too, agree with Trump a majority of the time, noting that Fitzpatrick creates an “illusion” that he is independent from the president or his party.
“[Fitzpatrick] doesn’t have enough to celebrate, and voters don’t want to see him pat himself on the back for only supporting this administration 75% of the time,” Crampsie said.
She said that Fitzpatrick’s voting record will not help him survive a blue wave this time around because the issues facing the country, such as the cost of living, are too dire amid what she calls a “change election.” Crampsie said Harvie should continue to focus his campaign on both Fitzpatrick’s record and kitchen-table issues.
“Making a campaign all about opposition to Trump, we’ve seen, is not successful,” Crampsie said. “Voters want a new vision. They want a new platform. They want new ideas, and that’s what Bob Harvie is offering.”
Worthington, the GOP donor, predicted that Fitzpatrick will once again be victorious this year, noting the lawmaker’s massive coalition of labor support,which would typically go to a Democratic candidate, and voters’ desire for a moderate candidate.
“He’s a free, independent thinker. At the end of the day, he tries to do what’s right for everybody, for the majority of people,” Worthington said.
“That’s the problem — there’s too many extremes. You’re either one side or the other. It shouldn’t be like that.”
Staff writer Sam Janesch contributed to this article.
Democrat Bob Harvie released his first general election TV ad Thursday morning, calling for a moratorium on artificial intelligence data center development and attacking U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Bucks) for his stance on the issue.
“I don’t want any more data centers. I want a moratorium. Big tech owns enough; they shouldn’t own our congressman, too,” Harvie says in the 30-second ad.
The ad marks the first timethe congressional candidate and Bucks County commissioner has called for a moratorium and signifies a shift in his position.
Previously, in an interview with The Inquirer last week and on his website, Harvie had calledonly for strict regulations on development. To focus his first major television ad on the topic shows how the projects are becoming a top issue for voters in Bucks County’s swingy 1st Congressional District amid a national backlash against data centers.
In Bucks County, both Harvie and Fitzpatrick have to grapple with the development of an Amazon data center in Falls Township, which is nearing completion.
Harvie, who lives just miles from the project, voted in December 2020 to approve acounty tax break for NorthPoint Development, the property owner of the Falls Township site.
Last year, Harvie celebrated Amazon’s investment in the data center and Fitzpatrick called it “one of the most transformative investments Bucks County has seen in decades.” More recently, they both supported Shapiro’s executive order.
In Harvie’s television ad, images of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg flash on the screen. “Big tech is taking over our lives,” the candidate says in the ad. “And they want more. Grabbing our land, water, electricity, and sticking us with the bill.”
Heather Roberts, a spokesperson for Fitzpatrick’scampaign, said in a statement that the Bucks County Republican has always been supportive of “uniform federal regulations” and “100% control by local residents who could be impacted.”
She also pointed tohis cosponsorship of two bills aimed at regulating the effects of data centers: the Ratepayer Protection Act and the Data Center Transparency Act.
“Bob Harvie literally created this problem in our community — and he is now well aware of the massive albatross that this is around his neck. Hence, his latest lie in this ad,” Roberts said.
In an interview about data centers last week, Harvie did not call for a moratorium on the projects, but rather for strict regulations — as is also reflected on his campaign website. He also touted tasking the county planning commission with developing guidelines for municipalities facing potential data center proposals.
When asked last week why he had not called for a moratorium, Harvie said: “I think there’s probably areas in the country where data centers can make sense, where the energy grid can handle it, where there’s limits to it on the impact it could have on other people who might live in the area.”
“But I do think certainly we need to have a lot of cause for concern about how rapidly this is happening and making sure we can put some kind of handle on it,” he added.
He also echoed residents’ environmental concerns related to data centers and said that the developments need the increased oversight outlined in Shapiro’s executive order and that projects should not continue if the local community opposes.
Nine days later, Harvie said Thursday in another interview with The Inquirer that the decision for a moratorium did not come “out of left field for me” but was the product of many conversations amid what he says is a “complete failure of leadership” by Trump and Republicans, including Fitzpatrick, on the issue.
Of his 2020 vote to give NorthPoint a tax break, he said there was not an indication that the property was going to be used for data centers, but rather for e-commerce distribution.
He said that he is not set on one particular time frame for the moratorium but that “setting up guardrails” is most important, and he hopes a Democratic-controlled Congress would further hold hearings on imposing a moratorium.
“As we’ve seen more and more of what’s going on around the country with data centers just trying to gobble up space and build, build, build without any regulation, I’ve come to the point now where we have to do something to slow down this genie getting out of the bottle,” Harvie said.
In what might have been unheard of just two years ago, the Democrat in Bucks County’s key congressionalrace does not mention abortion or reproductive rights by name on hiscampaign website.
Instead, Bob Harvie, the county commissioner challenging U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Bucks) in the crucial 1st Congressional District race, largely highlights affordability issues, like tax cuts for the middle class and raising the minimum wage, on his list of 12 priorities.
It’s not that Harvie is suddenly against abortion — he has been vocal about his support forreproductive rights — but it exemplifies a broader shift in how Democrats are fine-tuning their message for must-win races in the county this fall.
Once a top-line issue for Democratic candidates in Bucks — one of theswingiest counties in Pennsylvania — discussion of abortion and reproductive rights has faded into the background in local political campaigns in favor of issues related to the economy and the cost of living.
“People [are]feeling that right now they’re living in an America that’s not fair for them,” Harvie said.
The issue has also been so far been absent from Fitzpatrick’s campaign and his website. The Republican currently holds a moderate view on abortion, though he has previously voted for restrictions.
For Harvie, discussions surrounding access to affordable healthcare — which is his No. 1 listed campaign priority — includes abortion. All of these issues reflect a broader struggle, he argued.
“They’re losing their rights, they’re losing their power over their own futures, they’re losing the American dream, all of that is combined,” Harvie said.
It’sa noticeable shift from Fitzpatrick’s last challenger Ashley Ehasz’s strategy in 2022 and 2024 whenabortion and reproductive rights served as the focal point in both of her campaigns, which followed thebacklash to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade in 2022.
“Folks are pretty pragmatic when it comes to the politics here, and if something isn’t working, we’re not going to just keep doing it over and over again,” said Kierstyn Zolfo, co-leader of the progressive group Indivisible Bucks County, which supported Ehasz and is now backing Harvie.
Pennsylvania voters’ overwhelming disapproval of President Donald Trump and his handling of economic-related issues, as highlighted in a recent Inquirer/New York Times/Siena University poll, offers Democrats an opportunity as they target key state Senate seats in addition to the congressional contest.
“The point is to move the needle with the voters,” Zolfo said.
Kierstyn Zolfo, from Indivisible Bucks County, holds a sign that reads “Bob + Diane = Leadership for All of Bucks,” during a rally outside of the Middletown Township Police Department and Administrative Offices in Langhorne on Oct. 5, 2023. Harvie was running for county commissioner.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
How abortion became a ‘dormant’ issue in the midterms
The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania has thousands of volunteers and members talking to voters across the state ahead of the midterm elections.
And leaders of the nonpartisan organization are hearing very little about reproductive rights. Instead, they’re getting feedback on crucial cost-of-living issues and concerns about democracy.
Abortion has become a “dormant” issue, said Amy Widestrom, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania.
“Nobody’s coming to us saying I need talking points on reproductive health in Pennsylvania,” Widestrom said.
The shift reflects a national trend, with ads related to abortion drastically receding amid Democrats’ focus on bread-and-butter issues, NOTUS reported.
The midterms are mainly about serving as a “referendum” on Trump’s economic agenda and foreign policy, said State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, chair of the Bucks County Democrats, though reproductive rights “must always be a central plank” of the party and its candidates, noting that majority of the country support a woman’s right to choose.
“Affordability is really the key issue, so you would expect candidates to talk about that, and then you know they’re obviously going to talk about other issues as well, and abortion rights would be one of those,” said Santarsiero, who is also up for reelection this year.
In The Inquirer/New York Times/Siena poll, Pennsylvania’s likely voters in November’s gubernatorial election between Shapiro and Republican challenger Stacy Garrity indicated that the economy and the cost of living were the two most important issues.
Abortion was ranked fourth.
Democrat Eileen Hartnett Albillar, a social worker and the county’s clerk of courts who is running to unseat state Sen. Frank Farry in the 6th state Senate district, said she doesn’t see abortion and the economy as “competing issues,” though conversations with voters have primarily focused on making ends meet. People, she said, will engage in discussion over protecting abortion rights and related topics if she raises the issue.
“They want to protect reproductive freedom,” Hartnett Albillar said. “But you know, the cost of living is just so incredibly crushing for so many people. Just because they’re quiet about it, doesn’t mean it’s not important.”
Reproductive rights took center stage in the 2022 election after several GOP-led states enacted restrictions on abortion following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
In Pennsylvania, the issue helped motivate voters to turn out for Democrats Josh Shapiro and John Fetterman in the contests for governor and Senate. But as the procedure remains protected in the state under Shapiro, the topic has faded from focus.
Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley, a Democrat who is challenging GOP State Sen. Jarrett Coleman in the 16th district straddling Bucks and Lehigh Counties, still believes reproductive rights can motivate voters. But while he thinkshis party doesn’t talk about abortion enough, he acknowledged the dynamic is different now than it was then.
“I think you could win on that issue by itself,” Pinsley said. “I don’t think that’s true in the moment.”
Brianna Twofoot, vice president of organizing, elections and campaigns at Planned Parenthood Votes, said abortion and reproductive rights still matter to voters even if it’s not taking center stage this year.
“We’re not asking for anyone to make abortion or reproductive healthcare the number one issue, but we do think that voters want to hear about it,”Twofoot said. “And we do think that elected officials should be standing publicly on the issue.”
But any discussion of abortion will come amid what’s shaping up to be an apparent rebrand of the topic, folded into conversations about access to basic needs.
Signe Espinoza, executive director at Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates, said it’s key to look at reproductive rights through the lens of affordability, especially if health centers are defunded or closed.
“If Planned Parenthood doors close, where are you going to get your healthcare?” said Espinoza, whose organization is planning some days-of-action in Bucks. “It’s going to become more expensive. Everything’s going up.”
Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie hosts a veterans roundtable in May at Middletown Township Building in Langhorne.William Thomas Cain / For The Inquirer
How is the issue playing out in Harvie vs. Fitzpatrick?
Past elections in the Bucks County swing district have shown the abortion argument does not work against Fitzpatrick, who has been known to survive blue wave after blue wave.
Harvie, a twice-elected county commissioner backed by groups like Reproductive Freedom For All and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said voters in the district already know where he and Fitzpatrick stand on abortion. The Democrat criticized Fitzpatrick and the Republican Party for supporting “pretty extreme restrictions on abortion.”
“I think that’s the reason why you’re not hearing it very much because everybody knows the positions and knows who’s on what side,” Harvie said.
Heather Roberts, a spokesperson for Fitzpatrick, said the Bucks County Republican has long supported “full reproductive freedom” for the first five to six months of pregnancy, as is outlined by Pennsylvania law.
“We also note that the Congressman’s position is the position held by the overwhelming majority of PA-1 residents,” Roberts said.
His campaign also noted Fitzpatrick’s backing of legislation in recent years that aimed to protect the right to cross state lines for an abortion as well as bills that protect access to contraception and in vitro fertilization and support of pregnant workers and women’s rights.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) speaks to reporters on June 3 on Capitol Hill after the House passed an Iran war powers resolution.Haiyun Jiang
But he has also voted for abortion restrictions, including a 20-week abortion ban in 2017 and twice against the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have codified protections to access abortion into law.
The issue is absent from Fitzpatrick’s campaign website, which does not reference abortion in sections about healthcare or empowering women.
Widestrom, the executive director of Pennsylvania’s League of Women Voters, said Fitzpatrick has found a way to “neutralize” issues related to his position on abortion by continuing to win races where his opponents wage such arguments and refraining from touting a “hardcore pro-life” agenda.
“By not staking a claim, by not talking about it, it loses saliency in voters’ minds,” Widestrom said.
